Apologies in advance - I still have new car paranoia

Today, went for a small drive and went to get some fuel. On pulling out of the petrol station, the entire cabin filled with steam and it looked like it was coming from the air vents (behind the handbrake). Is this normal?

The car was fairly warm before I pulled in to get petrol and was left standing for about 10 minutes. The air con & heaters were on. Once the steam had cleared, the car seemed fine - all the temps were fine and she drove perfectly.

Is this just a 'quirk' of ownership?

I think this is a quirk of aircon and cold damp weather. Our VW doesn't quite emit steam, but after a short stop, mists up the windscreen immediately - but clears just as quick. Just keep an eye on the coolant level.

this was an option in Turkey
they love steambaths
pic

1560 - that was exactly what it was like last night!
DaveW - it was full on steam. The entire cabin was filled with it - to the extent that I thought the car had actually caught fire. All my cars have misted up when starting up but I've never seen them have steam pouring in before

Is the coolant level OK?????
I once had a hose burst (on Christmas Eve) in the garage on my MGB and it filled the garage with steam, as the water hit the exhaust manifolds. Like you I thought it was on fire. So a possibility is a jet of water from a loose coolant hose squirting on the exhaust, or something like the washer bottle pipe coming off and dumping the contents on the exhaust. Check those levels.

could be the washer bottle emptying onto the exhaust manifold. The earlier cars. Had this. The manifold is so close the water boils quite quickly when there is no cooling air flow.

Absolutely not. This would be a first I've ever heard of this glitch.

I cannot imagine it being a result of the A/C - the windows steaming up would be indicative of the warm air mixing with the moisture from the A/C once the vent pump was turned off; however, actual steam would seem to indicate a fluid leak onto something hot - as Cereal states, onto the manifold, etc.

If the car has been parked outside, could it be attributed to water that has frozen and them thawed as you drove the car?

Parked in a garage (albeit unheated so probably very cold ). The steam didn't smell of anything so after my initial panic that the car was on fire (and the OH thinking it might have been the clutch), we figured it was probably just water + A/C because it was odourless.

BTW thanks for all your suggestions on coolant levels etc - it's been a bit too cold to venture outside so I haven't checked the fluid levels yet.

Often it is a short period before the compressor gets up to working pressure. The exhcangers may have condensation still in them from the last operation if it is damp and so it has not evaporated out.

As you turn the unit on again the damp is blown through by the fan before the unit is up to operational levels and so the cabin mists. Combine this with your warm breath in a cold car and you get the same as well.

The only car I have not had this in is the Phaeton which seems to have been designed by aliens who make things better. The golf does do it.

Have had similar in the Middle East but obviously in hotter climates? I would guess the prognosis is the same though?

Boshers, what is that in your icon ?

Panther ?
Confused Lotus ?
Midnight Club MR2 ?

I am starting to get worried about you (lie, worried for years)

My first thought was a Panther Solo but could well be an MR2.

We seem to be suffering from a rash of morphing avatars. Highly confusing.
Am I missing something?

It's a Panther Solo by the way. Chassis number 25 and the only one in yellow. Now in Japan. But looks like an MR2 with a body kit when it's postage stamp size...............

As Peter Ustinov said in 'pidgin english' in an old movie "how you know?" Dave?

Give me steam
And how you feel to make it real
Real as any place you've been
Get a life with the dreamer's dream

Peter Gabriel - Steam


Sorry, It was stronger than me. ... and, as this thread is going off-topic anyway...

Very good Dave, but not quite right.

Panther Solo, chassis number 9 or 11 (was about the 7th customer car released) now in Japan, in fact was driven straight to Heathrow after the photo was taken and that is at handover by Panther at their then Harlow factory, about a few weeks before they went under.

First car I ever made money on only found the photos again the other day. Lovely car to drive, Cosworth 4wd drivetrain and chassis and IIRC before the mk2 MR2 was produced (that was 1989 as I can see my Honda Legend 2.7 in the photos)

Lovely Kallistas in the background

As someone famous once said: You can't be serious! Lovely Kallistas - morphed out of the Lima: what an abortion! I did like the Solo and had a test in one too. Rather undeveloped imho, but full of potential that was never realised (sounds like my school reports )

I'm sure you've made up for it since.

Anyway I always thought it a pity that Mr Jankel didn't manage to take his cars to alogical conclusion. I would love to know where this would have finished.

Check this page and scroll down Mr Boshly. You may be able to fill in some blanks.

http://www.pantherclub.co.uk/Georges/solo/solo.htm

Good story by the way.

Scrcasm, the lowest form of wit

Thanks Dave, random browsing/searching or had an interest?

I have no written records so can't recall the exact date or chassis, so on the basis of what is posted 25 may be right. However I'm pretty sure we were about 7th customer car? Oh well, all in the bowels of history.

I pre sold the car at a significant premium in those days of £10k from memory with a further £1000 if I could get it vat free which we did. What was even more surprising was that the gentleman who bought it saw my Sunday Times ad, agreed the sale over the phone, and sent me a £5k deposit cheque without meeting or knowing me and the car wasn't even in my name! Good job I'm honest.

He arrived on collection day (it was all cloak and dagger as Panther wouldn't let anyone on the list 'sell on') with a briefcase with approx £40k in cash, paid for the car and drove it to Heathrow. Car broke down with a drive shaft failure from Tokyo airport en route to the owners house and then was trailered to his house where it apparentley sat behind a glass wall in his front room and had never been driven.

The Gent who bought it (and he was a Gent, ran an engineering business in Brum) was really nervous everytime we visited as he didn't think the factory could afford to stay in business before 'our' car was produced. He was duly proved right

Memories

Just me piecing together your story from lunch together with the suggestion of Panther, and then Googling Panther Solo. It didn't take long. Ther only Panthers I like are the six wheeler (in pink with a cockney Chauffeur), and the Rio, because I had two Dolomites.

The rest, well........the least said the better I suppose.

Touche, Boshers me old mate!

Sarcasm is a device of using a characterization of someone or something in order to express contempt.

I was indicating my post was scarcastic, about 'lovely' Kallistas. No idea about why you were referring to GF's post?

Any way, no need to call me a douche'

Oops forgotten I'd bored some of you already with the story

I've led a sheltered life, I don't have many stories to regale so have to re-cycle what I do have

At least some of them waved at Sue and I in the +4 when we were down in Dorset in September...

Cheers,

Just had a thought. (I only get one per year so thats me all done for 2010)

In most cases you should see the condensed water drain off the car which is why you always see a little pool of water under the car at petrol stations on hot days.

If the water is being blasted into the cabin on next start it could be due to the drain being blocked. Run the A/C at max for twenty mins then switch off and see if you get a weap of water from it under the car. I have no idea why I did not think of it before other than I had already used my one thought for 2009 and was all out of them.

Happy Ice Age. Now lets all go and vote for global warming, this snow is playing havoc with my ability to take the Aero out. I am off to buy 200 aerosol deodorants and release them to make a small hole above me and let the sun back in to melt the ice.

The drain could have iced up, so that's a good call........

I just love this web site

Tell them about the Magenta Boshers, it's too cold today to go out; it's started snowing too! Go on me old mucker, you know you love it

for taking my thread so OT

I think it's just cold weather + rain + hot car = team. In the car wash today, as soon as the jet hoses were put onto the car, I noticed a bit of steam ingress from the air con vents so I'm fairly certain there's no issues.

All fluid levels are fine and I've done about 400 miles since the initial incident (and also tripled the mileage in two months ) so everything looks fine.

Thanks for your help/suggestions everyone

Car Wash!

Glad that your problem has a simple solution!

Hand car wash!! The car was covered in salt (which looks like it's corroding the door handles) so it had to be done and it was waaay too cold to do it myself (lazy, I know )

When washing an Aero it is important to cover the Heater Intake... I use a simple "large plastic shopping bag" split down the middle and laid butterflied across the heater intake.

It fits easily under the centre line of the bonnet and stops water poring in through the bonnet vents!

On earlier cars this also stops the small damp patch behind the radio on the gearbox tunnel after a wash.

Had the same experience in my S3 and it was simply and definitely an air-con issue. I had a similar thing on my 1989 Renault GTA V6 many years ago (still have the car but the air-con is currently out of service.)

In my case I had driven the car about 150 miles (to the factory) using air-con all the way. Parked up and then re-started about 15 minutes later. The car immediately filled up with steam and with windows open and fans on max this cleared in about 5 minutes. Not a leak specifically and not anything other than an air-con quirk as far as I can see. What the longer term prognosis is I have no idea but I doubt it helps with the long-term health of the air-con.

Thanks . The car has to go in for a service soon anyway so I'll get my local dealer to make sure everything's OK, just in case!